I'm here at Noisebridge now, sitting near the vintage EEG machine (SW
corner for those who havent been here before). The headset is working
and generating data. I will be doing some research online about how to
interpret it until people who want to talk, try on the headset, etc
show up. Hope to see some of you soon.
On Tue, Jul 20, 2010 at 9:37 AM, Dan Brown <danbrown at gmail.com> wrote:
> Last week I picked up the parts. The mind flex was $35 at a surplus
> store, and the bluetooth module was $45 (a barebones version exists
> for $25, but for prototyping I wanted it on a convenient breakout
> board)
>> Yesterday I tapped the serial interface wires on the neurosky eeg
> daughter board in the mind flex headset, roughly following steps 2 and
> 3 from this blog post: http://ericmika.com/itp/brain-hack . I took 4
> wires (+3.3V, GND, TX, RX) and connected them to the bluetooth module.
> Sure enough, data flowed from the neurosky. It is what we expected:
> spectral power bands, meditation, concentration. Although I don't
> expect it to cooperate, I will try to request it to send raw data,
> too.
>> Today I'm working on writing a python routine to parse the neurosky
> ThinkGear packets, and if I have time I will try to get a graphic
> display working.
>> ** WEDNESDAY, AKA TOMORROW at 6pm: I'd like your help interpreting the
> data. If you're able to make it to noisebridge between 6pm and 8pm or
> so, you can put on the headset and see your data and then we can try
> to figure out how good it is. If anyone has another EEG device to
> compare, that would be very helpful. Please let me know if you plan to
> be there.
>> In the near future, I will get one of those other EEG toys, the "Force
> Trainer", which may have a slightly different neurosky module inside.
> If it does, it may be able to send out raw EEG data at 512 Hz, as well
> as the stuff that the mind flex provides. At least, that what the FCC
> registration documents suggest.
>> Dan
>>>>>>> >> While for the Mindflex technically has Bluetooth-band wireless is built
>>>>> >> in, nobody has yet been able to get much use out of it because by default a
>>>>> >> significant portion of the useful data is filtered out before it is reached.
>>>>> >> The $200 standalone model does have full serial over Bluetooth built in if
>>>>> >> that's what you mean.
>>>>> >> As for the electrodes, from what I've seen it would seem that they aren't
>>>>> >> active (though what I've seen isn't hugely informative on the subject), but
>>>>> >> the amplification/analysis of the system is entirety done inches away from
>>>>> >> them anyway, so you might get some of the advantages of an active electrode
>>>>> >> system. If you were talking about the same data I'm thinking of, it seems
>>>>> >> that they may have also been using higher quality electrodes, distinct from
>>>>> >> the ones in their actual consumer products, as a proof-of-concept for their
>>>>> >> dry electrode system.
>